1. Field of Invention
The present invention is in the field of apparatus, systems, and methods for intravenous line stabilization.
2. Background of the Invention
Intravenous (“I.V.”) therapy is the introduction of medication to within a blood vessel so that said medication may be delivered throughout a vascular system. Frequently, access to blood vessels for I.V. therapy in humans and other animals is accomplished via the passing of a catheter through a patient's skin until the catheter's cannula is sufficiently within the target vessel. An installed catheter is usually dressed in bandaging since the catheter is partially subcutaneous and within a vessel. Sometimes, medication is delivered during I.V. therapy through tubing connected to a vessel accessing catheter.
I.V. therapy performed using a vessel accessing catheter and tubing can be problematic. One problem with catheter-plus-tubing I.V. therapy is that the tubing is frequently impacted by forces that are capable of dislodging an installed catheter from a preferable vessel accessing position. Dislodged catheters are undesirable since the I.V. therapy may be interrupted, the catheter may need reinstallation which can be painful and/or can introduce infection into the vessel, and the catheter may need to be re-dressed with bandaging which exposes the catheter entry to pathogens. Said dislodgement can be particularly problematic for I.V therapy in infants and small children due to: (1) their constant restlessness and shiftiness which cause additional dislodging forces to effect the I.V. tubing; and, (2) susceptibility to infection. Accordingly, there is a need for systems and methods of I.V. catheter and tubing stabilization that are particularly adapted for use in infant I.V. therapy.
Various systems of I.V. catheter and tubing stabilization are known. For example: U.S. Pat. No. 3,630,195 (issued Dec. 28, 1971) discloses tape that is anchorable to I.V. tubing and wherein the tape may adhere to an I.V. therapy patient's limb away from the catheter installation; U.S. Pat. No. 3,812,851 (issued May 28, 1974) discloses an arm brace for substantially immobilizing an I.V. patient's elbow and for anchoring I.V. tubing to the brace at a location away from a catheter that is positioned adjacent to the braced elbow; U.S. Pat. No. 4,449,975 (issued May 22, 1984), U.S. Pat. No. 4,453,933 (issued Jun. 12, 1984), U.S. Pat. No. 4,591,356 (issued May 27, 1986), and U.S. Pat. No. 7,022,111 (issued Apr. 4, 2006) disclose armbands that are anchorable to tubing and wherein the band may be positioned around an arm away from a catheter installed in the banded arm; U.S. Pat. No. 4,862,904 (issued Sep. 5, 1989) and U.S. Pat. No. 7,406,967 (issued Aug. 5, 2008) discloses arm supports for partially immobilizing the wrist of an I.V. patient so that an I.V. catheter installed at the back of the patient's hand cannot be impacted by forces caused by the arm and wherein the arm support may be anchorable to the tubing; and, U.S. Pat. No. 4,898,587 (issued Feb. 6, 1990) discloses an adhesive sided plate that affixes to a catheter for anchoring, via the adhesive, the catheter to an I.V. patient at the catheter installment site and wherein the associated tubing may be taped to the patient. The above referenced examples are typical of the known stabilization systems.
Although the known systems provide a measure of stabilization to installed I.V. catheters and tubing, the known systems have not been completely adequate for stabilizing I.V. catheters and tubing installed on infant I.V. therapy patients.
Specific inadequacies of known I.V. catheter and tube stabilization systems are known. First, braces or support type anchors are only adapted for stabilizing I.V. therapy catheters installed on a particular extremity of the I.V. therapy patient. Second, armband type stabilization systems have a tendency to slide relative to the limb to which the band is placed around whenever the band is impacted by forces (for instance, forces caused by a banded baby rolling or moving within its crib), which sliding dislodges an installed catheter. Also, band anchors must be discomfortably constricted around the limb. Third, tape or adhesive type stabilization systems irritate a baby's sensitive skin; they loose adhesion when wetted or exposed to human excretions; they only cover a small surface area whereby the anchoring function is diminished; and are difficult and painful to relocate when the positioning of the tubing must be changed. For these reasons, and others, there remains a need for systems and methods of I.V. catheter and tubing stabilization that are particularly adapted for use in infant I.V. therapy.
Although not specifically directed to I.V. catheter and tube stabilization, those in medical industries know ways of anchoring medical apparatus to a human body. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,545,191 (issued Aug. 13, 1996) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,843,025 (issued Dec. 1, 1998) disclose adhering a hook patch to the human body and a corresponding loop patch to a medical apparatus (e.g., a hearing aid for U.S. Pat. No. 5,545,191 and a bandage for U.S. Pat. No. 5,843,025) so that the hooks and loops on the patches may form a hook and loop connection when the patches are contacted to one another. These Velcro® type stabilizations suffer from the drawbacks disclosed above in connection with adhesive type stabilization systems. Furthermore, hooks are abrasive and can harm sensitive skin (e.g., a Velcro® patch on a baby's arm may scratch the baby's torso whenever the baby moves). Accordingly, a need still exists for systems and methods of I.V. catheter and tubing stabilization that are particularly adapted for use in infant I.V. therapy.
In non medical industries, systems are known for stabilizing the distal end of a cable to a bundle of the cable. These systems are typically straps that anchor to the distal end and wrap around the corresponding bundle. See U.S. Pat. No. 3,197,830 (issued Aug. 3, 1965), U.S. Pat. No. 5,745,958 (issued May 5, 1998), U.S. Pat. No. 5,802,676 (issued Sep. 8, 1998), U.S. Pat. No. 6,192,554 (issued Feb. 27, 2001), and U.S. Pat. No. D530,600 (issued Oct. 24, 2006). These strap type stabilization means, although not directed to securing a tube to an I.V. therapy patient, would have similar drawback to those mentioned above in connection with band type I.V. stabilization systems and/or Velcro® systems if such were employed to stabilize an I.V. tube. Thus, known stabilization systems do not meet the need for systems and methods of I.V. catheter and tubing stabilization that are particularly adapted for use in infant I.V. therapy.